What Is The Role Of Accountability In Addiction Recovery

Hey there, my name is Bianka. Welcome back to Detox to Rehab’s Recovery Reflections. Corey, Connor and I will be sharing about taking responsibility for our actions. Also, how we are managing our feelings into positive ones to attract a positive tomorrow.

Please join us each Monday at noon on our Facebook page to listen to the experience, strength, and hope shared by us!

We will live stream a reading from The Secret: Daily Teachings and Narcotic Anonymous: Just for Today. We express how this reading has helped our recovery or how it has impacted us. Please join us, engage with the audience, post questions and or leave feedback for us at noon. We thank you and hope we can inspire your recovery journey!

Daily Teachings

October 24, 2016: Day Three

Whatever feelings you have within you are attracting your tomorrow. Worry attracts more worry. Anxiety attracts more anxiety. Unhappiness attracts more unhappiness. Dissatisfaction attracts more dissatisfaction.

Your job is an inside one. To change your world, all you have to do is change the way you feel inside. How easy is that?

Take Action

Corey, Connor and I agree with this passage to a certain extent. Yes, you need to think of happiness to attract more happiness and peace to attract more peace but when it comes down to recovery, you can’t just think of it. You have to take action.

It is Simple

“Your actions take place first and it kind of changes the way … you think and feel on the inside,” Connor said.

Connor believes if you change your actions first, then you will be able to change the way you feel about recovery on the inside. I agree with Connor’s thoughts because if you are sitting there getting drunk and high, and you start thinking of recovery the drugs and alcohol aren’t going to disappear. You have to get up and say, “I am ready for change” then do something about it.

Doing something about it is not as challenging as it may seem.

“It is simple but not easy,” Corey said.

All you have to do is want recovery to get it. It may seem hard but it is simple. When working a 12-Step program you are taught to admit you were powerless to your disease and your life has become unmanageable then move on from there. Simple, right? Keep in mind you need to move on, it doesn’t just stop there.

“There has to be action to what I do,” I said.

I can’t just say I am powerless over my disease and assume I am cured. I have to get up and get to meetings, work with a sponsor and do what other people who have a lot of time in recovery suggest me to do.

I can relate this passage to my life out of recovery also.

“If you keep thinking of like why you are unhappy nothing is going to change,” I said.

If I am upset and keep thinking about what it is that is making me upset how is it that my mood is going to change?

“The more positive I put out the more positive I get in return,” Connor said.
It will not change unless I start thinking of something happy and change my thought process. Although thinking of happiness will help there has to be action that needs to take place too.

Daily Teaching Vs Just for Today

The Daily teaching focuses on how to attract a better tomorrow while the NA: Just for Today puts attention how important taking responsibility for your own actions is. While each reading is very different, they share the same importance. They give me hope and guide me in the right direction. Also, it reminds me of how blessed I am to be living a life clean and sober.

Just for Today

October 24, 2016: Responsibility

“We are not responsible for our disease, only for our recovery. As we begin to apply what we have learned, our lives begin to change for the better.”

Basic Text, p.91

The further we go in recovery, the less we avoid responsibility for ourselves and our actions. By applying the principles of the Narcotics Anonymous program, we are able to change our lives. Our existence takes on new meaning as we accept responsibility and the freedom of choice responsibility implies. We do not take recovery for granted.

We take responsibility for our recovery by working the Twelve Steps with a sponsor. We go to meetings regularly and share with the newcomer what was freely given to us: the gift of recovery. We become involved with our home group and accept responsibility for our part in sharing recovery with the still- suffering addict. As we learn how to effectively practice spiritual principles in all areas of our lives, the quality of our lives improves.

Just for Today: Using the spiritual tools I’ve gained in recovery, I am willing and able to make responsible choices.

I have the Choice

I have the choice to make responsible choices today because of my recovery. When I was out there battling my addiction it wasn’t easy for me to think of the right thing to do because getting the drugs I needed required me to do a lot of negative things. Today, I have the choice to choose right over wrong because my mind isn’t clouded by drugs and alcohol.

We are Responsible for our Recovery

“We are not responsible for I disease, we are only responsible for our recovery,” Corey repeated.

What Corey means by this is that we didn’t really know wrong from right in our addiction but now that we are sober we can make the right decisions. In our addiction, we made some mistakes, but we don’t need to rack ourselves over those mistakes. We just have to go through and correct them.

“I can take advantage of the spiritual tools and apply them to my life,” Connor said.

Connor proceeded to say, “I make the choice to go to a meeting, I make the choice to talk to new people … these are things I can do.”

Righting our wrongs is simple. You just have to take action.

“I am able and can do things today because of my recovery,” I said.

I know my recovery isn’t going to make me perfect ever, I just have to take responsibility for being able to grow and learn.

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